夏洛的網 Charlotte's Web
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夏洛的網 Charlotte'；s Web
作者：埃爾文·布魯克斯·懷特 （Elwyn Brooks White） ［美國］
在朱克曼家的穀倉裡，快樂地生活著一群動物。小豬威爾伯和蜘蛛夏洛建立了真摯的友誼。然而一個壞訊息打破了穀倉裡的平靜：威爾伯在聖誕節將會被人殺死，做成燻肉火腿！作為一隻豬，悲痛欲絕的威爾伯似乎只能接受任人宰割的命運了。然而看似渺小的小蜘蛛夏洛卻說：“我救你。”於是，夏洛在豬欄上織出了被人類視為奇蹟的網上文字，這些讚美威爾伯的文字徹底改變了威爾伯的命運，終於讓威爾伯在集市的大賽上贏得特別獎，和一個安享天年的未來。但在這時，蜘蛛夏洛的生命也走到了盡頭……之後威爾伯帶著悲傷和感恩撫養了夏洛的孩子！
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第一章： 早飯前
“Where‘s Papa going with the ax？” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast。
“爸爸拿著斧子去哪兒了？”在他們收拾桌子準備吃早飯時，芬問她的母親。
“Out to the hog house，” replied Mrs。 Arable。 “Some pigs were born last night。”
“去豬圈了，”阿拉貝爾太太回答。“昨晚生了幾隻小豬。”
“I don’t see why he needs an ax，” continued Fern， who was only eight。
“我不明白他為什麼需要一把斧子，”只有八歲的芬繼續說。
“Well，” said her mother，“ one of the pigs is a runt。 It‘s very small and weak， and it will never amount to anything。 So your father has decided to do away with it。”
“哦，”她的母親說，“其中的一頭是個小個子。它長得又小又弱，沒有任何可留下來的價值了。所以你爸爸決定去消滅它。”
“Do away with it？” shrieked Fern。
“消滅它？”芬尖叫。
“You mean kill it？ Just because it’s smaller than the others？”
“你是說殺死它？就因為他比別人的個子小？
Mrs。 Arable put a pitcher of cream on the table。
阿拉貝爾太太把一罐乳酪放到桌上。
“Don‘t yell， Fern！” she said。
“別嚷，芬！”她說。
“Your father is right。 The pig would probably die anyway。”
“你爸做的對。那頭豬不論如何都會死的。”
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors。
芬推開擋在面前的椅子就往門外跑。
The grass was wet and the earth smelled of spring time。
草地溼漉漉的，泥土裡散發著春天的氣息。
Fern’s sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up with her father。
等芬趕上她的爸爸時，她的運動膠鞋全都溼透了。
“Please don‘t kill it！” she sobbed。 “It’s unfair。” Mr。 Arable stopped walking。
“請別殺它！”她嗚咽道。“這不公平！”阿拉貝爾先生止住了腳。
“Fern，” he said gently， “you will have to learn to control yourself。”
“芬，”他溫柔的說，“你該學會自我控制。”
“Control myself？” yelled Fern。 “This is a matter of life and death， and you talk about controlling myself。”
“自我控制？”芬哭叫道，“這可是一件生死大事！你卻對我說什麼自我控制！”
Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father‘s hand。
淚水流到芬的面頰上。她抓住了斧頭柄，想把它從父親手中搶下來。
“Fern，” said Mr。 Arable， “I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do。 A weakling makes trouble。 Now run along！”
“芬，”阿拉貝爾先生說，“養小豬的事我比你知道的多。一個體質差的小豬很難養活的。現在你該放我走了！”
“But it’s unfair，” cried Fern。
“可是這不公平，”芬哭叫著。
“The pig couldn‘t help being born small， could it？ If I had been very small at birth， would you have killed me？” Mr。 Arable smiled。
“這頭豬願意讓自己生下來就小嗎，它願意嗎？如果我生下來時也很瘦小，你就會殺死我嗎？”阿拉貝爾先生微笑了。
“Certainly not，” he said， looking down at his daughter with love。
“當然不會了，”他說著，低下頭慈愛地望著女兒。
“But this is different。 A little girl is one thing， a little runty pig is another。”
“但這是不一樣的。一個小女孩是一碼事兒，一個小瘦豬是另一碼事兒。”
“I see no difference，” replied Fern， still hanging on to theax。
“我看沒什麼不一樣，”芬回答著，仍死抓著斧柄不放。
“This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of。”
“這是我曾經聽到過的最恐怖的案件！”
A queer look came over John Arable’s face。 He seemed almost ready to cry himself。
約翰·阿拉貝爾先生的臉上出現了某種奇特的表情。他好像也要哭了。
“All right，” he said。
“好吧，”他說。
“You go back to the house and I will bring the runt when I come in。 I‘ll let you start it on a bottle， like a baby。 Then you’ll see what trouble a pig can be。”
“你先回家吧。等我回家，我會把那頭小豬帶回來。我將讓你用奶瓶喂他，象喂嬰兒一樣。那時你就會明白一頭小豬會多麼麻煩了。”
When Mr。 Arable returned to the house half an hour later， he carried a carton under his arm。 Fern was upstairs changing her sneakers。
半小時後，阿拉貝爾先生胳膊下夾著一個紙板盒回了家。芬正在樓上換她的運動鞋。
The kitchen table was set for breakfast， and the room smelled of coffee， bacon， damp plaster， and wood smoke from the stove。
廚房的桌子上擺好了早餐，房間裡都是咖啡，薰肉的香味，溼溼的灰泥味兒，還有從爐子裡盪出來的柴火煙味兒。
“Put it on her chair！” said Mrs。 Arable。
“把它放到她的椅子上！”阿拉貝爾太太說。
Mr。 Arable set the carton down at Fern‘s place。
阿拉貝爾先生把紙板盒放到芬的位子上。
Then he walked to the sink and washed his hands and dried them on the roller towel。
然後他到洗手池洗了手，用池邊滾筒上的毛巾把手擦乾。
Fern came slowly down the stairs。
芬慢慢地下了樓。
Her eyes were red from crying。
因為剛剛哭過，她的眼還是紅紅的。
As she approached her chair， the carton wobbled， and there was ascratching noise。
當她走近她的椅子，紙板盒開始晃動起來，裡面傳出了抓搔聲。
Fern looked at her father。
芬看了看她的父親。
Then she lifted the lid of the carton。 There， inside， looking up at her， was the newborn pig。 It was a white one。
然後她掀起了盒蓋。從那裡面打量著她的，正是那新生的小豬。它是白色的。
The morning light shone through its ears， turning them pink。
早晨的陽光把它的耳朵映得粉紅。
“He’s yours，” said Mr。 Arable。 “Saved from an untimely death。 And may the good Lord forgive me for this foolishness。”
“他是你的了，” 阿拉貝爾先生說，“是你使他免於一死。願上帝能原諒我這愚蠢的行為。”
Fern couldn‘t take her eyes off the tiny pig。
芬不錯眼珠地看著這頭小小豬。
“Oh，” she whispered。 “Oh， look at him！ He’s absolutely perfect。”
“哦，”她輕聲讚美，“哦，看他呀！他漂亮極了。”
She closed the carton carefully。
她小心的關上了蓋子。
First she kissed her father， then she kissed her mother。 Then she opened the lid again， lifted the pig out， and held it against her cheek。
她先吻了爸爸，又吻了媽媽。然後她又揭開蓋子，把小豬舉起來，讓他貼到自己的臉上。
At this moment her brother Avery came into the room。
這時，她的哥哥埃弗裡走了進來。
Avery was ten。 He was heavily armed an air rifle in one hand， a wooden dagger in the other。
埃弗裡十歲了。他的身上可是全副武裝呢——一隻手裡拿著氣槍，一隻手裡攥著一把木製匕首。
“What‘s that？” he demanded。
“那是什麼？”他問。
“What’s Fern got？”
“芬得了什麼了？”
“She‘s got a guest for breakfast，” said Mrs。 Arable。
“她有了一位來吃早餐的客人，” 阿拉貝爾太太說。
“Wash your hands and face， Avery！”
“埃弗裡，去洗手洗臉！”
“Let’s see it！” said Avery， setting his gun down。
“讓我看看它嘛！”埃弗裡說著，放下他的槍。
“You call that miserable thing a pig？ That‘s a fine specimen of a pig it’s nobigger than a white rat。”
“你說這可憐的小東西是一頭豬？這不過是一頭豬的小型複製品而已——他還沒有一隻白老鼠大呢。”
“Wash up and eat your breakfast， Avery！” said his mother。
“去洗臉吃飯，埃弗裡！”他的媽媽說。
“The school bus will be along in half an hour。”
“半小時內校車就要來了。”
“Can I have a pig， too， Pop？” asked Avery。
“我也能有一頭小豬嗎，爸？”埃弗裡問。
“No， I only distribute pigs to early risers，” said Mr。 Arable。
“不，我只把小豬送給早起的人，” 阿拉貝爾先生說，
Fern was up at daylight， trying to rid world of injustice。
“為了制止這世界上的不公正行為，芬天剛亮就起床了。
As a result， she now has a pig。 A small one， to be sure， but nevertheless a pig。
結果，她現在有了一頭小豬。當然了，他的確是特別小，可不管怎麼說這都是一頭小豬。
It just shows what can happen if a person get sout of bed promptly。
這只是表明，如果一個人能迅速地從床上爬起來，會有什麼樣的事情發生。
“Let‘s eat！” But Fern couldn’t eat until her pig had had a drink of milk。
讓我們開飯吧！”但是芬要等到她的小豬喝完牛奶後才肯吃飯。
Mrs。 Arable found a baby‘s nursing bottle and a rubber nipple。
阿拉貝爾太太找出了一個嬰兒用的奶瓶和奶嘴兒。
She poured warm milk into the bottle， fitted the nipple over the top， and handed it to Fern。
她把溫乎乎的牛奶倒進奶瓶裡，又把奶嘴兒安上，才把奶瓶遞給了芬。
“Give him his breakfast！” she said。
“給他吃早餐吧！”她說。
A minute later， Fern was seated on the floor in the corner of the kitchen with her infant between her knees， teaching it to suck from the bottle。
一分鐘後，芬坐在廚房角落裡的地板上，把她的小寶貝抱在膝頭，開始教他如何從瓶中喝奶。
The pig， although tiny， had a good appetite and caught on quickly。
這小豬雖然那麼小，卻有一個好胃口，而且也學得很快。
The school bus honked from the road。
路上響起了校車的喇叭聲。
“Run！” commanded Mrs。 Arable， taking the pig from Fern and slipping a doughnut into her hand。 Avery grabbed his gun and another doughnut。
“快跑！” 阿拉貝爾太太命令著，把小豬從芬那裡抱下來，將一張油煎圈餅放到她的手上。埃弗裡趕忙抓起他的槍和另一張油煎圈餅。
The children ran out to the road and climbed into the bus。
孩子們跑到路邊，上了校車。
Fern took no notice of the others in the bus。
在車裡，芬沒有注意其他的人。
She just sat and stared out of the window， thinking what a blissful world it was and how lucky she was to have entire charge of a pig。
她只是坐在那裡朝車窗外看，想著這是個多美好的世界，自己又是多麼幸運，居然可以擁有一頭小豬。
By the time the bus reached school， Fern had named her pet， selecting the most beautiful name she could think of。
在車開到學校的那一刻，芬已經給她的寶貝起好了名字，選的是她能想到的最漂亮的名字。
“Its name is Wilbur，” she whispered to herself。
“它的名字是威伯。”她喃喃的自語。
She was still thinking about the pig when the teacher said： “Fern， what is the capital of Pennsylvania？”
“芬，賓夕法尼亞洲的首府叫什麼？”當老師在課堂裡問她時，她還在想著那頭小豬。
“Wilbur，” replied Fern， dreamily。
“威伯。”芬出神的回答。
The pupils giggled。 Fern blushed。
同學們格格地笑起來。芬臉紅了。
